James Pearson ⋅ Cumming , GA University of Central Florida ⋅ 42 years experience

There are other resources you should investigate if you haven't already. Here are some suggestions:
a) Economic Development organizations in Washington state (David Porter, One World Trade Center, Ste 244, 121 SW Salmon Street, Portland, OR 97204 T: (503) 326-3078 E: dporter@eda.doc.gov.
b) Incubators and co-working spaces. Look at http://startup.choosewashingtonstate.com/resources/work-spaces/ and http://www.gaebler.com/Washington-small-business-incubators.htm for some possibilities in Washington.
c) Another resource is the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA): http://www2.nbia.org/about_nbia/.

Deb Yeagle ⋅ Tampa , FL Plan To Win, Inc. ⋅ 39 years experience

Hi Eddie!
Thanks for your service!
I am sorry that your PTAC counselors are overloaded and can't be of help. I am finding that this is the case across the country as I have recommended PTAC services to many Veterans and this is what I am hearing. I support local PTAC counselors in Central Florida by providing their clients with free training, including classes in Proposal Development to win Federal Government contracts. You might want to ask your PTAC office if they've ever thought of finding a local consultant who would offer such training.
Feel free to message me if you'd like advice on specific aspects of bid decisions and proposal submission. I provide these services as owner of my own business, and would be happy to help you get started.
Thanks again-
Deb

_ _ ⋅ Urbandale , IA ⋅ 1 years experience

Hey Eddie!
I did quite a bit of RFP/RFI work in a previous life. Each discipline is a little different, but fedbizopps.gov is the starting line. Even though that's the public notice, your real work starts way before that public release. Make a list of the top 10 targets in your region that you know you can deliver value to. Then figure out who the supervisor of that particular target is, and try to build a relationship with that person. You will fail by submitting a blind proposal. Even if you get a 20 minute meeting with the guy or gal, be sure to share with them your biz qualifications and portfolio.

Hopefully, you can get an RFP that someone else can manage for you (disciplines tend to roll up to a bigger RFP) and you submit a bid under them. They kind of teach you the ropes through experience. If you are the vendor submitting directly to the client, don't worry as much about the presenting material. I mean, make it look nice, but don't blow your budget. It's all going into a spreadsheet anyway.

It's going to take a few trial and errors to get the feel for the process. If you see a giant scope of work hanging out there, be wary. Likely, someone else (incumbent, most likely) worked with the client to generate that RFP. It's kind of an engineered win. So, don't wast your time or think that's going to be a sure winner.

Inbox me if I can help further.

Michael Kraft ⋅ Eureka , CA Sequoia Personnel Services ⋅ 25 years experience

Hello, Eddie:

Look to see whether you have a local SCORE chapter or Small Business Development Center (SBDC). While the PTAC effort is designed to be specifically help on government contracting, often the SBDC or SCORE have people who are good at it as well. I used to run a two-county SBDC operation and we contracted with a procurement/government contracting expert to help folks with that.

I'll also add that entrepreneurs, while typically very busy people, genuinely like to help serious would-be entrepreneurs. If you can identify one or two who do government contracting, but with whom you wouldn't be directly competing, you may get some great hard knocks lessons from them for the price of a few cups of coffee.

All the best,

Michael Kraft